College News
ISU MANRRS Chapter Voted Best in Nation
Iowa State's MANRRS chapter was picked the chapter of the year Saturday at the organization's national conference in Denver. This is the third year in the last four that the ISU chapter has won this national recognition. Marcus Glenn, agricultural education and studies graduate student, was elected as this region's graduate vice president, and Aurelio Curbelo completed his term as the national graduate president. Mary de Baca continues to serve on the advisory committee to the national MANRRS society.
CALS Senior and Junior Honored for Leadership
Tyler Strom, senior in agricultural business and economics from Elgin, Ill., has been presented the Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award by the Iowa State University Alumni Association. The award recognizes outstanding seniors who display high character, outstanding achievement in academics and university/community activities, and promise for continuing these exemplary qualities as alumni. It was presented Sunday at the association's Student Scholars and Leaders Recognition Ceremony. At the same event, Nathan Upah, junior in animal science from Clutier, was awarded the Junior Leadership Award. The award is presented to students who demonstrate a progression of leadership development (breadth, depth, and impact of past leadership activities) and potential for future leadership. More: http://www.isualum.org/en/awards/index.cfm?nodeID=10710&audienceID=1 DAIRY
Science Senior Honored by Phi Kappa Phi
Iowa State's Phi Kappa Phi chapter selected Jessica Tekippe, dairy science senior from Manchester, as the top scholarship recipient. She will be attending graduate school at Pennsylvania State University next year. Her application will be forwarded to the national office for consideration of an additional award.
Presentation on CSREES on Funding Opportunities April 4
Chavonda Jacobs-Young, national program leader for Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) competitive programs, will give an overview of CSREES-USDA funding opportunities at 8 a.m. April 4 in Room 13 Curtiss. Her presentation will emphasize the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program; Integrated Research, Education and Extension Programs; and the Small Business Innovation Research Programs.
Iowa Farmer Today, ISU Resume Cropwatch Blog for '08
Iowa Farmer Today resumed its CropWatch Blog this week. The website got its start last year as a partnership between the publication and ISU to provide statewide and localized information on crop conditions for growers. Crop production specialists from Iowa State and industry partners of ISU's Corn and Soybean Initiative offer their comments, observations and other views of the current crop situation in the state. A summary of the blog's reports will be published in the weekly print edition of Iowa Farmer Today. CropWatch Blog can be found online.
Faculty Senate Approves Degrees Name Changes
The Faculty Senate on March 25 approved a name change for two College undergraduate degrees. The proposals to change the agricultural education degree to agriculture and life sciences education and the entomology degree to insect science were approved. The name change goes to the President and Provost and on to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, for final approval. The senate also elected senator Steve Freeman, agricultural and biosystems engineering, as chair of the judiciary and appeals council and Suzanne Hendrich, food science and human nutrition, as chair of the academic affairs council.
Faculty Vote on Four Curricula Proposals
This week, College faculty are voting on approval of four new curricula: a bachelor's degree program in culinary science; bachelor's degree program in global resource systems; an undergraduate certificate program in occupational safety; and an undergraduate minor in meat science. All four programs have been reviewed and approved by the appropriate departmental faculty, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Council and the Faculty Senate Executive Board. The faculty can vote up until Tuesday, April 8.
Sociology Sets Special Seimnars This Week
The sociology department has scheduled special seminars on immigration and funding for short-term projects. Marcelo Siles, executive director of international programs at Northern Michigan University, will present "Social Capital and the Impact of Latino Immigrants on Urban Development" Tuesday, April 1, from 4 to 5 p.m. in Room 9 Curtiss Hall. His study evaluates the important role that social capital plays in the Latino immigration process on urban development. On Thursday, April 3, Cornelia Flora, distinguished professor of sociology, will present "The Move to the Project Society: The Importance of Networks in Short-Term Funding," from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 8 Curtiss. She will discuss how the shift to short-term competitive grants and contracts impacts state, market, and civil society institutions, including Iowa State, International Agriculture Research Centers and public health delivery among others.
CCUR Biopolymers, Biocomposites Workshop April 22
The Center for Crops Utilization Research Biopolymers and Biocomposites Research Team and the Center for Industrial Research and Service will sponsor a workshop April 22 for researchers and industrial partners to network with Midwest companies to design, formulate and process biopolymer and biocomposite products. Registration is $35 per person and the deadline for registering is April 15.
Korean Grad Student Quoted in Nature
Nature magazine quoted Dong-Gill Kim, a forestry doctorate student working with Dick Schultz, natural resource ecology and management, in a story about a Korean canal construction project. Kim related his concerns regarding the greenhouse gas emissions from the project. More: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080319/full/news.2008.679.html
Pork Center, Universities Offer Advice for Struggling Hog Farmers
The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, Pork Checkoff and experts from universities around the country have created a tip sheet addressing current challenges facing the industry. The tip sheet, "Practical Ideas to Address High Feed and Production Costs," is available on the Iowa State and Iowa Pork Producer's Pork Information Gateway (PIG) at http://isu.porkgateway.org.
New Guidebook Released for Small Meat Processing Plants
The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) recently released the Iowa Meat Processors' Resource Guidebook: A Guide to Building, Upgrading or Expanding a Small Meat Processing Facility. The book is a result of the Small Meat Processors Working Group's discussions, research, and hands-on work with individual meat processors. The book is available in a free PDF format through the NCRCRD Web site.
Deadlines and Reminders
April 4: Promotion and tenure workshop on the definition of scholarship, 3:10 to 5 p.m., CCUR auditorium, 1951 Food Sciences building
April 10: 44th Annual Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecture, 7:30 p.m., 1414 Molecular Biology
April 11: Deadline for proposals for instructional information technology projects April 14: Deadline for Center for Integrated Animal Genomics grant applications, 4 p.m.
April 15: Morrill Act open house hosted by the College and ISU Extension, Christian Petersen Museum in Morrill Hall
April 18: Promotion and tenure workshop on portfolio development, 3:10 to 5 p.m., CCUR auditorium, 1951 Food Sciences building
April 23: Fifth annual symposium of the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Gateway Hotel and Conference Center, http://www.bigmap.iastate.edu/
April 23: Distance education reception, 4:10-5 p.m., Curtiss Hall Auditorium, social gathering following in the Curtiss Hall rotunda
April 30: Promotion and tenure workshop for associate professors, 3:10 to 5 p.m., CCUR auditorium, 1951 Food Sciences building
Communications Kiosk
"Subprime" Voted Word of the Year
The American Dialect Society voted "subprime" the word of the year. Subprime easily beat out other nominees at the society's annual meeting. Also in the mixwere words like "green-" as a prefix or compunding form (e.g., greenwashing); Facebook; waterboarding; and googleganger. A googleganger, a play on doppelganger, means a person with your name shows up when you google yourself. It received top votes as the most creative word. (Writing That Works, February 2008)
Infograzing
Cancer Prevention Topic of April 9 Session
"What Can You Do to Prevent Cancer" is the April 9 lunch-and-learn session. Kristi Hepner, registered dietitian, will lead the discussion. The session will be from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 9 Curtiss Hall. Reserve a spot by contacting Sally Barclay, barclay@iastate.edu or 4-9625, because there is limited seating.
USDA Works to Revitalize Agricutlure in Iraq
The USDA is helping Iraq revitalize its agricultural sector through a variety of activities. In Iraq, agriculture has traditionally been the second largest employer, after the oil sector. Agriculture also is the second largest component of Iraq's gross domestic product and an important part of the social structure of rural communities. CSREES and a consortium of U.S. land-grant universities are responsible for implementing the Iraq Agricultural Extension Revitalization (IAER) project.
External Voices
The Value of Higher Education Evident to Farmers
"I can't prove it statistically, but farm parents seem to value higher education even more passionately than the general population. Perhaps it is because farm parents understand how much knowledge, continuous learning and management of assets it takes to run a successful farm." --Loren Kruse, Successful Farming magazine editor-in-chief, March 21
Marginalia
Parental Income May Help Determine Value of Degree
The short-term economic benefits that people derive from earning a bachelor's degree vary according to their own parents' economic situation, according to a study presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the study, by Marvin Titus of the University of Maryland, notes that many studies have concluded that people with bachelor's degrees earn substantially more than people without them. But none of the previous studies have looked at the influence of students' family wealth on how much such degrees pay off. The research found that people from families in society's bottom socioeconomic quartile appear to reap slightly bigger economic gains from earning a bachelor's degree than students from the top quartile. On the other hand, people from families in the wealthiest fourth of society earned higher incomes regardless of whether they completed college. People from families in the bottom quartile earned an average of $31,059 if they had a bachelor's degree, $27,126 if they didn't. People from families in the top quartile earned an average of $35,913 with a bachelor's degree, and $31,814 without one. (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 26)
Ag and Life Sciences Online
Editor
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Website: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe."